Why some Mumbai voters could not vote
It was not the heat but errors in the voter's list that may have stopped some voters from casting their votes in Mumbai.

India Votes in Third Phase
The fate of prominent leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, L K Advani and H D Deve Gowda will be decided today.

Is this the dream state the BJP is building?
MP: Grim poverty, government apathy.

Mayawati's pillars of strength
The 6 most influential people in India's largest state.

Bollywood comes out to vote
Shah Rukh Khan flew down from South Africa -- where the Indian Premier League matches are currently on -- just to cast his vote.

‘Politics has become a bad word’
Priya Dutt on what MPs need to do.

'I can never be a politician because I'm emotional'
Meet the beautiful, charismatic and outspoken MP from Gwalior, Yashodhara Raje.

Not BJP or Congress, only the palace wins in Gwalior
No prizes for guessing the constituency.

Mumbai: Spouses on the campaign trail
Rediff.com tracks down the spouses of five high-profile candidates in Mumbai South.

'People shoo me because I am a north Indian'
The recent attacks on north Indians in Mumbai may well become a major election issue.

'Muslims are the next Dalits of India'
Mumbai's Muslims on how they will vote this election.

An American at The Great Indian Political Festival
It feels like one eminently local, bitterly contested power grab. It's just coincidental that 542 other such elections are simultaneously taking place across the country.

'26/11 was a decisive reason to contest polls'
Mahesh Jethmalani explains why he took up the challenge.

In BJP bastion, Congress makes inroads
The Hindutva brigade's experiments may not pay electoral dividends, they discover.

'Here, glamour is politics'
Politicians in Gwalior use a new medium to get their message across.

'Deve Gowda should become PM 100 times'
But the son of the soil has failed farmers in the village where he was born.

Sonia and Mamata take on the Left
Indrani Roy Mitra traveled to the border town of Lalgola in Murshidabad district to witness a political rally that sealed the Trinamool-Congress alliance in the heart of the Left's bastion.

In Shimoga, a CM's son faces a former CM
The contest between B Y Raghavendra, son of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, and former chief minister S Bangarappa of the Congress in Shimoga parliamentary constituency is touted as the most interesting battle in the state

Machines create loss of jobs: Abu Azmi
Samajwadi Party candidate Abu Asim Azmi from Mumbai North West seat held a day-long rally, visiting the areas of his constituency, urging people to vote for him.

'Won't mind Priyanka'
Surprising responses to our question: Kaun banega PM.

Disillusioned Mumbai witnesses majestic Sonia
Congress chief and UPA chairperson appreciated the spirit of Mumbai, in her campaign rally in the city

'The national election has become a local election'
'The issues dominating people's minds and debated upon are only local issues, local candidates, local caste combination or local nexus of criminals.' Arun Shourie speaks out!.

Sonia, Mamata come together after 8 yrs
This was the first time in eight years that Congress President Sonia Gandhi shared the platform at a joint rally with Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee.

Hassan still has hopes from Deve Gowda
The JD-S chief's style of campaigning shows that he is a worried man.

'The language of politics has to change'
In Guna, Madhya Pradesh, does the Scindia mystique endure and will it ensure a young royal's victory?

Arun Jaitley: Batting for the BJP
'This whole business of dual authority means the dilution of prime ministerial authority,' says Arun Jaitley.

Raj's message to Marathi manoos
Marathi Hridaysamrat is the latest word added to the lexicon of Maharashtra politics.

'We are creating two Indias'
The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The top-most priority for any government must be to bridge that gap, says Congress MP Sachin Pilot in frank conversation.

'So very little is being done for our security'
Interview with independent candidate from Mumbai South, Meera Sanyal.

Nostalgia makes Guna vote for Maharaj-turned-MP
A Ganesh Nadar travels to Shivpuri, the former fiefdom of the Scindias, to gauge the voters' reactions to their erstwhile royal family.

Sonia slams BJP on nuke deal
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi accused the saffron party of changing its stand on the issue.

Will Nafisa Ali win Vajpayee's mantle?
On the campaign trail with the beauty queen-turned-actress-turned-social activist.

The steel behind the Gandhi smile
Sonia's children have come to terms with the rough-and-dirty-tumble of Indian politics.

Sensing Muslim anger
Muslims in UP want the BJP defeated.

A new kind of politics
A group of citizens are working towards a transparent, corruption-free and inclusive political process.

The People's Guardian
This maverick citizen takes potshots at his opponents, political parties and the state of the country's governance.

'We don't bother about the Sensex'
Meet Madam Mayawati's top advisor.

Sugar belt may turn sour for Congress-NCP
The parties's traditional bastion may dirft away.

'Spoiler' Sanyal bats for Mumbai
Meera Sanyal looks too sophisticated and too good looking to be what she is -- a Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai South constituency

'There is hardly anyone on the road'
Rediff.com correspondent A Ganesh Nadar and Photographer Uday Kuckian track the polling process in election booths across Bhopal.

'I have not brought down my father's legacy'
Arjun Singh's daughter Veena Singh, who is contesting as an Independent in Sidhi, talks about her decision to contest, her relations with her father and brother, and about her fitness as a candidate.

'Sharad Pawar is a dictator'
Sharad Pawar's confidant and three-time Kolhapur MP Sadashiv Mandlik, who is contesting as an independent this time, heaps scorn on his mentor.

India votes in second phase of LS polls
The turnout remained tepid across India.

From World Cup to Parliament
He helped India won its first World Cup. Can he win a difficult election?

Rahul's quiet mission: Capture Uttar Pradesh
Meet his Aam Aadmi Ka Sipahi.

Congress battles Sena in Malvan
Political equations in poll-bound Malvan in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra -- regarded as the bastion of industry minister Narayan Rane.

'We were promised 70 lakhs, not a penny has come'
Voices from the Bangalore North battle.

In Khajuraho, CM could carry day for BJP
One observer feels at least 50 percent of the BJP vote can be linked to Shivraj Chauhan's bond with voters.

Priyanka floors Amethi
In the absence of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, it was Priyanka Gandhi who took the task of campaigning in Amethi.

The lady who will surprise Pawar
On the campaign trail with Sharad Pawar's daughter.

Complacency bothers BJP in Vidisha
You can't possibly miss Sushma Swaraj. She beams from every possible facade, shop fronts to car windows.

Meet the raja of Ayodhya
Bimlendra Pratap Mohan Misra is the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate from Faizabad, Ayodhya's twin city. His forefathers have ruled Ayodhya from Raj Sadan, the palace where he lives.

Cong's self goal in Arjun's stronghold
A report on the royal intrigue in rural Sidhi.

Narendra Modi: I am an apolitical CM
Modi discusses the flavour of the ongoing Lok Sabha election campaign, and his prime ministerial ambitions.

Maharaj does the hard miles
You wonder what has suddenly happened to Udayanraje Bhosale, the 13th descendant of Shivaji Maharaj, as he springs up from his bed, lifts his legs and shows his frayed soles.

Will Amethi still vote for Rahul?
Rahul Gandhi's Amethi still lives in the dark ages, literally so.

The battle for Bangalore South
Bangalore South is undoubtedly the most high-profile constituency in the state. It has been a BJP bastion for the past four terms.

Shivaji's descendant dares Uddhav to a one-on-one
Udayanraje Bhosale, the 13th descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, is in a tough battle in Satara..

DMK vs AIADMK: It's advantage Jayalalithaa
The lady wins the first round.

Images of Poll 2009
Taking a ride along with politicians in their poll yatra

'The nuclear deal has assured us jobs'
Four students on why the India-US nuclear deal has brought them hope.

Meet Capt Gopinath's chief campaigner
'It is very important to talk directly to voters. We believe it is necessary to understand their problems. That is why we have stayed away from the tamasha, usually followed by others,' says Bhargavi Gopinath.

Nobody comes asking for votes
Situated on the busy Vidisha-Bhopal road, the 400-odd residents of Ankheda village are starved for water and electricity.

Tejaswini's upset win in 2004
A profile of the Bangalore rural constituency where former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy is taking on Tejaswini.

Bickering leaders ignore Bellary's health
Rediff.com reporters travel through the battered roads of Bellary to some of its dusty villages, to uncover a tale of neglect, poverty and health woes in the mining heartland of Karnataka.

How Maoists stunned India on polling day
The attacks revealed that the Maoists have far better military training and superior firepower than believed earlier

In the city of statues, Mayawati's word is law
A look at Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati's state and the place where her political experiments take place.

'Amma' leads Third Front to poll battle
It was quite evident from the speeches and the reactions of the one lakh strong crowd that what mattered to the electorate was the issues that concerned them, and not the nuclear deal or what happened in the far away Delhi or Uttar Pradesh

Promises after promises, but taps here are still dry
Chitradurga is just 100 km away from the highest waterfall in India, yet it has the worst water problem in the state.

Will Saran make or break Laloo's future?
Saran is one of the most high profile constituencies to go to the polls on April 16, where Laloo Prasad Yadav is facing perhaps the toughest electoral battle in his eventful career

Shatrughan Sinha files nomination in Patna
Sinha is pitted against TV actor Shekhar Suman.

Polling, a star-studded affair in AP
Megastar-turned-politician Chiranjeevi took a break from his campaign in coastal Andhra to cast his vote in Hyderabad.

India goes to polls
The curtains finally went up on the Great Indian Election Drama.

First phase of polling will decide their fate
Union Ministers Lalu Prasad, Praful Patel, Shashi Tharoor and Renuka Chowdhury are among the 1,715 candidates testing electoral waters in the first phase.

What Sonia called Advani
Uttam Ghosh's take on the latest political news from Election 2009.

Will Suresh Patel stun Advani?
Two-term Congress MLA Suresh Patel is pulling out all stops to force a major upset in the lok Sabha election.

Pratibha Advani campaigns in Gujarat
Pratibha, daughter of Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani, campaigns in Nava Vadaj in Ahmedabad.

Salman Khan campaigns for Priya Dutt
Sanjay Dutt may not have been there to support his sister in the upcoming elections, but Salman Khan certainly was.

From behind a veil, a prisoner's wife seeks the vote
Siwan is where a woman candidate in a veil is making a maiden bid to win a seat in the Lok Sabha, a proxy for her husband, who has come to symbolise criminality in Indian politics.

Why these Chhattisgarh tribals will not vote
The voters in Northern Chhattisgarh speak about the problems and expectation from the government.

Why suicide is a way out for Vidarbha farmers
Trapped in an endless spiral of debt, driven remorselessly to suicide, the people of Vidarbha have lost all hope. Sheela Bhatt reports from Ground Zero

Poll fever grips Kandhamal
Prasanna D Zore and Uttam Ghosh report on how an election is conducted in Kandhamal where the Christian community confronts Hindu anger eight months after a VHP activist's murder

Shashi Tharoor's day out
Tharoor is braving the humidity and heat of his native Kerala during his door-to-door campaign to meet voters.

India all set to begin first phase of polls
The first phase of Lok Sabha elections that was marked by bitter exchanges between petulant politicians begins on Thursday.

'We've been treated as animals in polls'
A look at the travails of government staff deployed on election duty in Bihar.

Can magic make people vote?
A magician performs some tricks to urge people to vote during an awareness campaign in Ahmedabad.

Lady with the toughest job in Bihar
Young civil servants, not more than half a dozen years in the bureaucracy, dare to take on the mightiest politicians in the land.

On the campaign trail with Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the elegant English-speaking national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is addressing a small crowd in Bhojpuri. The venue is a largish courtyard in the middle of a congested mohalla where Rudy, a four-time contestant and two time winner from Chhapra, is making a spirited case for his poll victory in the local dialect.

The refugees of Kandhamal can't go home
Rediff.com reporters visit a refugee camp in Kandhamal and find that the Christians tremble at the prospect of going home.

Coastal Andhra looks to Chiru for change
Will the Telugu mega movie star's magic hold in an area that reels under power cuts and lack of drinking water?

Salman now hits the road for Milind Deora
Participating in a road show, the 43-year-old actor made a strong appeal to the electorate to vote for the young sitting MP who is seeking a re-election.

Chiranjeevi flags off Praja Rail Yatra
Chiranjeevi kickstarts the last leg of his party's campaign by flagging off a train at the Secundarabad Railway station.

Pranab Mukherjee files nomination
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee filed his nomination for the Jangipur Lok Sabha seat.

Winds of change may blow in Visakhapatnam
In Chiranjeevi, the superstar-turned-politician, the youth sees hope and also hopes for change. They feel that the state will be rid of corruption and rowdism once their superstar comes to power.

In Kandhamal, authorities battle heavy odds
On Ground Zero, authorities gear up to hold an incident-free election and also to ensure that the riot-affected people can vote without fear.

Rahul hits the election trail in AP
The young Congress leader assured the people of the country about his party's commitment to bring back the illicit money parked in Swiss banks.

Sonia lashes out at BJP in Vidarbha
"The country is aware of these forces and leaders who spread venom through their speeches," said Gandhi.

Chiranjeevi, Andhra's own Obama
In Chiranjeevi, the superstar-turned-politician, the youth sees hope and also hopes for change. They feel that the state will be rid of corruption and rowdism once their superstar comes to power.

Advani 'parivar' campaigns
BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani'S wife Kamala Advani, son Jayant Advani and his wife Geetika Advani campaigned in Gandhinagar.

NRI candidate campaigns in rural Andhra
Madhu Yaskhi, a non-resident Indian from the United States, is contesting the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh.

16 candidates in 'nursery of terror' contest
With stakes high in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is desperately trying to get the magical caste formula of the past.

'After calling me a joker, they now call me professor'
It is here on the banks of the Saryu that Laloo has come to mingle with voters.

Trinamool eyes historic CPI-M bastion
Barrackpore is all set to witness the duel between Tarit Baran Topdar of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and Dinesh Trivedi, general secretary of the Trinamool Congress.

Campaign trail: Captain Gopinath woos indifferent techies
Don't say hello. Say vote for change'. This is the election mantra of Captain Gopinath.

Advani files nomination
Bharatiya Janata PartyÂs prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Wednesday filed his nominations from Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

'The nation is waiting for a strong, experienced leader'
How long will Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi stay on in the state? Does he harbour prime ministerial ambition?

Mayawati's jalwa in Laloo land
This is her first visit to Saran, Bihar, during her mammoth campaign throughout the country.

Meeting India's Muslim vote bank
Glimpses from a public meeting held by Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh in Delhi

Shashi Tharoor sparkles despite attacks
Since the frontrunner is immune to charges of inefficiency and corruption innovative brains in the Opposition are inventing issues to combat him.

Team Advani's tech wizards
These are the people who are talking to the youngsters of India on Advani's behalf.

These stars have lost their shine Stars are not that bright for many Bollywood personalities contesting the Lok Sabha polls.

Banker, doctor, ex-gangster fight it out
The prestigious Mumbai South constituency, home to some of India's richest people, will witness a multi- cornered fight in the April 30 Lok Sabha polls.

Raj Thackeray woos voters
Maharashtra Navniram Sena chief Raj Thackeray holds a mammoth rally in Mumbai

Varun goes to jail riding the saffron wave
Under the watch of a passive district administration and security personnel, Bharatiya Janata Party debutante Varun Gandhi rode a saffron wave into Pilibhit

Davangere wakes up to poll fervour
The small town of Davangere, located in the centre of Karnataka, was woken up on Monday thanks to the launch of the Congress election campaign by party chief Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia @ Davangere: The numbers mean little
Have the Election Commission and the Special Protection Group, between them, willy-nilly robbed the Indian election of its famed tamasha value and reduced it to an antiseptic exercise? .

Heavyweights seek to strike gold
In the battle of the ballot in UP, some leaders will aim at not only winning but also maintain their position among the top ten who secured the highest victory margins.

When pigeons campaign for the BJP
An interesting campaign launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party at Bellary, the mining capital of Karnataka.

Parties visit 'Cyberia' to net voters
More and more political parties are leveraging the web to raise funds and reach out to India's younger voters.

The power plaers who matter
A lowdown on the possible key players in the coming elections. Beyond doubt, regional parties will have a key role in any government formation at the Centre.

Celebrities in the 2009 poll fray
Cricketers & actors have decided to enter the political arena in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. A look at some of the new faces who might contes the polls this time.

Mumbai Mayor uses public transport
The model code of conduct has been enforced by the EC and mayors of Mumbai and Thane have lost their official vehicles

'Sons' rise in Indian politics
A look at the sons, daughters, nephews and nieces of politicians who will look to carve a niche for themselves in the coming Lok Sabha.

A third front is born with a promise
The crux of the entire event was to form an alternate front in order to topple both the United Progressive Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance.

Criminals turned politicians galore at LS polls
A group of more than 1200 NGOs has released the list of 20 Lok Sabha constituencies worst-hit by criminalization.